This tour combines Peru’s rich birdlife with its fascinating cultural heritage. It offers a unique experience for birders who also enjoy cultural exploration.

Peru, the third-largest country in South America, has a rich cultural history and a remarkable variety of landscapes: the mighty Andes Mountains, vast desert regions, cloud forests, the Amazon rainforest, and a long Pacific coastline. Thanks to its many diverse ecosystems, Peru is home to a greater variety of plants and animals than most other countries on Earth. With more than 1,900 bird species, Peru ranks second in the world for bird diversity.

Long before Peru became a country, the Andes and the desert were the cradle of many ancient pre-Columbian cultures, which left their marks on the landscape and on Peruvian culture. There are many museums and archaeological sites where the richness of Peru’s past is still tangible. One of the most important and well-known cultures was the Inca, who flourished around 600 years ago.

Birding 
The birding part of this tour takes us to the Huacarpay Lake close to Cusco, with interesting aquatic bird species. We will visit the Santuario de Colibríes Ensifera ensifera and the Sacred Garden in the Sacred Valley of the Incas. These gardens are home to many hummingbird species, including the endemic Bearded Mountaineer and the impressive Giant Hummingbird, the largest of its kind, as well as other birds such as the endemic Chestnut-breasted Mountain-Finch.

Our journey then continues down the eastern slopes of the Andes near Cusco, descending to the rivers and the elfin, cloud, and Amazon forests of the famous Manu National Park. This 1.5-million-hectare UNESCO World Heritage Site, is home to an unparalleled variety of ecosystems and wildlife, including more than 1,000 species of birds. The “Manu Road,” which follows the park’s boundaries, is one of the best birding locations in South America, thanks to its range of altitudes and vegetation types, each supporting its own specific bird species.

Along the Manu Road and in beautifully maintained gardens run by local families, we will have the opportunity to fantastic bird species, including Peru’s national bird the Andean Cock-of-the-Rock, as well as King Vulture, Golden-headed Quetzal, different colorful tanagers, toucans, and hummingbirds, like Rufous-Crested Coquette, Wire-crested Thorntail, and Rufou-booted Racket-tail. In addition to birds, the area is also home to a wide variety of mammals, including various species of monkeys, such as Woolly Monkey and Large-headed Capuchin.

We will explore the wild landscapes of Manu by car and on foot.

Culture
The cultural part of this tour takes us to the famous “lost city of the Incas,” Machu Picchu, dramatically perched on a mountain top in the cloud forest. This impressive site is one of the New Seven Wonders of the World. Machu Picchu is reached by train, and the journey itself is an experience to remember. 

Design Your Own Birding & Cultural Tour
Extensions to other fascinating Inca archaeological sites near Cusco are always possible, and we are happy to design a personalized Birding & Cultural Tour tailored to your interests.

Discover more about the destinations on this tour in our blog Birding & Culture in Cusco.